Recently I made a LEGO race car with a driver who wore a helmet. Unfortunately, after the race, I tried to take off his helmet and his head came off inside the helmet. Any suggestions about getting it out so he can see again?

8 Answers
8

You can use some sugar liquid to use as temporary glue to make the head stuck to the torso. Then wait till the sugar is sticky and then try to remove the helmet. Once the helmet is loose you can put the head and torso in warm water to loosen the sugar glue and take it off. Then wash thoroughly to remove remaining sugar.

Your problem is that the clutch (what holds bricks together) between the helmet and the head is too high, and in any case higher than the clutch between head and torso.

This means the solution is to increase the clutch between the head and another part you'll use to remove it. I would first recommend trying other torsos, maybe one has enough clutch to easily take the head with it and beat the helm. Twisting the parts while trying to separate them should also help.

If that fails, other LEGO parts might help, but I'm not sure which ones - torsos have a longer stud probably for that very reason. Maybe a Technic pin with friction?

You could also try slipping some paper around a torso stud, but be careful not to just push the paper alone inside the head.

A trick that's worked for me in the past, is to use a 1x1 cone with a Technic axle in it (it needs to be the cone without the top groove, unlike the example below) - this will allow you to force the tapered end of the cone into the hole on the bottom of the head, and by fastening a Technic gearwheel, brick or larger cylinder to the Technic axle, you'll be able to ply a fair amount of force to increase the clutch of the cone piece in the head and twist to loosen it from the helmet with a push-twist-pull movement. Good luck.

You need to get something into the head-hole to grip the head whilst you remove the helmet.

You could try a pair of snap-ring pliers or needle nose pliers. Insert both jaws into the hole and pull them apart as much as possible whilst you remove the head from the helmet. You might need a helper - someone to remove the helmet whilst you grip the head with the tool.

You may not be able to avoid scratching the inside of the head-hole slightly - but a scratch where it won't be seen is probably better than throwing two parts away.

Worst case, you write-off the head completely, but at least you've still got a useful helmet. If you do get to the point where you can't remove the helmet without damaging it, you could resort to super-gluing something to the inside of the head and pull it out.

Take some scotch tape and wrap it round the neck thing. Then you just put the head on and pull the helmet off. If that doesn't work, use more tape, it will make the head stay on the neck a little better.

You can also try to use soapy water. You know how people use soap to remove a stuck ring from their finger? The same works for stuck LEGO helmets. Just immerse the helmet/head in some water with lots of soap, then do as Joubarc mentioned; attach them back to a torso, and now wiggle off the helmet...(c:

You should try to use a torso that is really, really gripping. The newer, the better. Do you have any Exo-Force minifigures? I found those torsos really, really tight. Whenever I got something stuck, I always plonk them on Hikaru's torso. Works most of the time. Helps if you twist it around. Once the helmet turns but the head doesn't, you're gold.